Pneumatic pump



PNEUMATI C PUMP Filed June 16, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet l Sept. 23, 1930. J. O. McMlLLAN 1,776,266

PNEUMAT I C PUMP Filed June 16, 1928 5 sheets-'sheet 5 l l l l I I A TTOKNE Y Sept. 23, 1930. 1, 0, MCMILLAN PNEUMATIC PUMP Filed June 16, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Sept. 23, 1930. J. o. MCMILLAN PNEUMATI C PUMP Filed June 16, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Ja V3.

A tazas JAMES 0. MOMILLAN, F WICHITA, KANSAS rmmiuarlc ruime application maritime is, 192s. serial No. 285,844.

rlhis invention relates to pneumatic pump systems and particularly to a system in which a pump of the single cylinder type is submerged below the head of water in the well V and it consists generically of a mechanism including an air line, a fluid service line and A an exhaust with certain air valve regulating devices and control mechanism therefor. The pump may be set in operation by opening one or more faucets in the service line since air pressure is always available on the The novelty of the invention will be clear-` ly apparent by reference tothe following description in connection with the accompany- 25 ing drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a elevational view of a complete pump installation.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the outer pump cylinder, the inner cylinder or pipe and 3f vvalve actuating float being shown in elevation.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the air controlling valve mechanism.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sectional View on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view through the lower part of the pump cylinder. 40 Fig. 7 is a sectional view on the line 7-7 of Fig.. 6. Fig. 8 is a sectional view on the line 8--8 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 9 is a sectional view through a slightly modified form of float and valve mechanism. Fig. 10 is an elevational view of a further modified form of float and valve mechanism. Fig. 11 is a sectional view through a deep well showing the pump arrangement for successive stages and casting through an orifice 12, the passagevFig. 12 is an enlarged view of two stages of the pump, certain parts being broken away in order to better illustrate certain other parts.

. Referring now to the drawings by numerals of reference, 1 designates a conventional type of air compressor provided with a tank 2 discharging into an air pipe line 3 or fluid pressure pipe in which is an unloading valve 4,'the purpose of which will be clearly under- 60 stood. The pipe 3 is connected to a chambered head or casting 5 so that it discharges into a chamber or passage-way 6 communieating with a diaphragm chamber 7 provided with a cylindrical strainer 8. There is a dia- ,65 phragm 9 forming one wall of the chamber and secured to the casting by a recessed cover 10 (see Fig. 3). The diaphragm chamber 7 communicates with a passage-way 11 in the 0 way 11 communicating with the outer pump cylinder 13 through an opening' 14 toput pressure on the liquid 15 in the cylinder 13. The valve 16 is provided for alternately opening and closing thek port 12 as well as the port 17 which communicates. the passage-way 11 with the exhaust chamber 18 in the casting 5. rl`he chamber or passage-way 18 is provided with an orifice 19, the purpose of which will be presently explained. rlhe chamber or passage-way 18v also communicates with an exhaust pipe 20 extending above the liquid head and it preferably carries a muffler 21 of preferred construction (see Figure y1). The -valve 16vis connected to the diaphragm -9 by a stem 22 having a passage-way 23 communicating the chamber 7 with the spring chamber 24 in the cover 10. The cover 10 communicates with an eX- haust port 25 in the casting provided with an air exhaust port 26 normally closed by a gravitating valve 27 on a stem 28 passing through the stuffing box 29 and adapted to be seated by a float 30 in the outer cylinder 13. A. hanger 31 is fast to the under side of the casting and it carries a hinged yoke 32 adapted to contact with the head 33 on the end of the stem 28 so as to prevent the valve 27 from sticking and to thereby insure its proper functioning. The valve stem is'guidedl in the yoke and in thestuing box. The yoke 32 is normally held in a horizontal 1plane by the spring 34 (See Fig. 3). The yo e `straddles the inner cylinder or pipe 35 which communicates with the passage-way 36 in the casting and which communicates with the service pi e 37 provided withan air expansion cham er 38 connected to the pipe 39 to which one or more'faucets 40 may be attached. The yoke 32 carries a wire or rod 41 passing through the vertical opening 42 in the iioat 30, the lower end of the wire being guided in a slot 43 in the guide clamp 44, fastened to the pipe or tube 35 by the set screw 45. The wire has an outstanding finger 46 near its lower end upon which the 1float 30 will seat when the liquid level falls low v enough as will be presently explained, and when the float rests upon the finger 46, its weight will be enough to overcome the spring 34 to swing the yoke downwardly and unseat the valve 27. When the water level rises, the ioat will move oi' the finger 46 so that the springwill restore the yoke to the position shown in Figure 3 and as the iioat rises it will contact with the head 33 to force the valve 27 into seating position. The Iinner cylinder or pipe 35 is connected at its lower end of a valve case 47 which is in the form of a. hollow casting having communicating connection with the pipe 35 as seen in Fig. 6. The casting 47 4consists of an inverted hollow member having a removable bottom 48 with inlet openings 49 surrounding a hollow collar 50 on which'is a ring -valve 51 adapted to seat on the bottom member to close the ports 49 and adapted to be guided on the collar 50 when in unseated position to permit liquid to iiow through ports 49, around the ring valve and between the abutments 52 into the pipe 35. It will be noted that the ring valve is of less diameter thanI the interior of the valve casing or cage so that when it is unseated, the liquid may by-pass the valve into the pipe 35. The specific construction of the by-passing valve and its co-operating parts constitutes the subject matter of a separate application filed June 16, 1928, Serial No. 285,845. The valve cage or casing is supported on an anchor or support consisting of the two pipes 53 and 54 connected bythe union 55, the pipe 53 being screwed into the iiange 56 of the collar 50. The union or connection has an annular supporting iange 57 upon which rests the s'leeve 58 surrounding the pipe 53. The sleeve carries a bottom or support 59 upon which rests the outer cylinder or casing 13. The bottom or support 59 has inlet openings 60 normally closed by a ring valve 61 of less diameter than the cylinder 13, but its diameter is sufiicient to overlap and to close the opening 60 when it is seated. A strainer 62 is connected to the flange 63 of the bottom member 59 and to the vequalize the pressure on both sides of the diaphragm 8 so that'the diaphragm will be in the position shown in Figure 3, holding the valve 16 in position to uncover the port 12 so that air will iow through passage-way or chamber 11 into the outer cylinder 13 to put pressure on the liquid 15. When' a faucet or faucets 40 is opened, the air pressure will `force the liquid through ports 49 unseating valve 51 so that the liquid will iow through pipe 35, through' passage-wa 36 (by-passing the chamber in casting 5g into pipe 37, past the expansion chamber 38, through pipe 39 out through faucet 40. As the liquid level` recedes, the fioat will drop until it rests upon the finger 46. A further recessionl of the.

liquid will permit the' iioat to move downwardly exerting downward `pressure -on the finger 46 to pull down the outer or free end of the yoke to unseat the valve 27 permitting the escape of air pressure from the right hand side of the diaphragm 8 (Fig. 3) through the opening 26. The pressure will now predominate on the left hand side o the diaphragm so that the diaphragm will be moved vover against the spring 65 causing the valve 16 to close the port 12 so that no more air can pass into the cylinder 13. When the valve 16 moves over to close the port 12, it will uncover the port 17 so that any air pressure in cylinder 13 will exhaust through passage-way 18, through pipe 20, through muiiler 21. As soon as the air pressure in the -cylinder 13 has exhausted to approximately atmospheric/pressure or to a pressure sufciently low to allowthe surrounding liquid to lo'w through ports 60, the liquid will substantiallyfill the cylinder 13 to approximately the level shown in Fig. 3.. The oat will 4move up with theV liquid level until it contacts with the head 33 of the valve stem 28, whereupon the valve 27 will close the port 26, then the air from the air compression line will accumulate in chamber 24 until the pressure on both sides of the diaphragm 8 is equal. The spring 65 will then move the diaphragm from right to left (Fig. 3) and this predomi'atihg pressure will be effective in causing the valve 16 to uncover the port 12 and close the port 17. The pressure will now accumulate on top 4of theliquid level 15 and the valve 16 will remain in the position shown in Figure 3 -until the li uid is again substantially exhausted in cy(l inder 13 because the valve 27 will be -held seated due to pressure in the chamber 25 until mechanically unseated through the medium of the float 30. When the liquid is exhausted rom cylinder 13, the exhaust of tically constant and it will be delivered under considerable pressure so that it can be raised to a. considerable height.

I prefer to have an opening 19 in exhaust chamber 18 to act as a check to prevent pounding of the valve 16 because in actual practice I find that the opening 19 assists the spring 65 and the diaphragm 8 in eliminating pounding of the valve 16 in either direction and to act as a muiiler due to the fact that the Water drawn into the port 19 will be effective in breaking up the sound waves. I have also provided a port 66 in the pipe 35 which will permit air to enter the pipe 35 during the time that the liquid is accumulating in` cylinder 13 and this air will accumulate in the expansion chamber 38 so as'to eliminate the possibility of the liquid flowing through the service pipe robbing the expansion chamber of the air therein. The purpose of the unloading valve will be perfectly obvious to those skilled in the art by merely mentioning that when the pressure in the cylinder 13 reaches a predetermined value, the air compressor will be automatically unloaded. Unloadingvalves for similar purposes are quite common in the art.

In Fig. 9 I have shown a modification in which the liquid is admitted to the valve cage or housing 47 through a tubular neck or ported member 67 having a seat 68 to receive the collar 69 carrying a tube 7 0 provided with a valve seat 71, the collar resting upon the spring 72. The tube is slotted as at 73 to permit liquid to pass into the neck 67 through the port surrounded by the valve seat 71 unless the 'port is closed by the valve 74 on the float 75. The float 75 carries a stem 76 which has a right angular projection 77 having lost-motion connection with the link 78 carried by the ioat 79. The iloat 79 is rigidly connected to a valve stem 80 having a valve 27 to open and close an opening 26'., the valve functioning i'n substantially the same way as the valve 27 in Figure 3. The float 75 can move downwardly a slight distance independent of the float 79 and its valve 74 will close the opening 71. In other respects the operation will be similar to that in the preferred form.

In Fig. 10 the rod 81 is fastened to a valve similar to the valve 27 and it is connected to a yoke 82 carried by a bracket 83 fastened to the pipe 35 by set screw 84. The yoke is overbalanced by a weight 85 until the float 86 contacts with the lip 87 of the yoke, in which event, the weight 85 is counterbalanced by the float to unseat the valve 88l corresponding to valve 27. In other respects, the system would operate substantially the vsame as the mechanism shown in Figuresl to 6 both inelusive. l

In Figures 11 and 12 I have shown the pump arrangement in multiple in which the several pumps can all be supplied from a single air line 89 corresponding to the pipe 3 with the outlet 90 of one pump commumcating with the inlet end 91 of the next highest pump and each outer cylinder connectedwith the air line 89, this arrangement being especially devised for deep wells so that the liquid can be raised by stages from the bottom of the well to the top.

In using the pump units in stages, the bottom pump will be substantially like the pump shown in Figures 1 to 6 both inclusive. Th next succeeding pumps will be substantially like the pump shown in Figures 1 to 6, both inclusive, except that instead of the strainer 62, the bottom 92 of the. outer cylinder 13 will i be solid. There will be no valves corresponding to 51 and 61, but there will be a. check valve 93 below each staging unit above the first. Itwill be apparent that the system or mechanism will provide a substantially constant fiow of liquid and that thel liquid can be raised to practically any height by multiplying the stages.

In Figures 11 and 12, it will be noted that the valve 51 is absent in each succeeding cylinder above the lowermostcylinder and that the' check valve 93 is used between any two cylinders above the second from the bottom. There is no check valve 93 between the first and second cylinders from the bottom, this being unnecessary because the valve 51 in the bottom cylinder will prevent-the return of liquid forced into the second cylinder from the top, but the check valves 93 between any two of the cylinders above the second from the bottom will take the place of the check valve 51 in the bottom cylinder.

The port 66 is an important advance in this type of pump because it not only aerates the water tending to purify it, but it also permits air, to tbe supplied in the system, to accumulate in the expansion chamber in such quantities as to preponderate over the liquid in the expansion chamber, creating sulicient pressure to insure a uniform flow through the outlet of the service pipe.

What I claim and desire to secure byvLetters Patent is n 1. Inv combination, a liquid accumulating cylinder, a source of fluid pressure for supplying pressure on top of the liquid in the cylinder, a discharge cylinder orpipe within the first named cylinder having communiated valve betweenthe source of fiuid pressure and the first named cylinder having a .normal vtendency to unseat, an exhaust pipe having an opening normally closed by said valve, a chamber on one side of the diaphragm having ported communication with the other side of the diaphragm, said chamber having-an exhaust port and a fioat actuated valve normally closing the exhaust port but unseatable by the fioat when the liquid inl the first cylinder drops to a predetermined level.

2. In combination, a liquid accumulating cylinder, a source of fiuid pressure for supplyino' pressure on top of the liquid in the cylin er a discharge cylinder or pipe within the first named cylinder having communication with a service line a diaphragm actuated valve between the source of fluid pressure and the first named cylinder having a normal tendency to unseat an exhaust pipe having an opening normally closed by said valve a chamber on one side of the diaphragm having ported communication wth the other side of the diaphragm said chamber having an exhaust port and a fioat actuated valve normally closing the exhaust port but unseatable by the float when the liquid in the first cylinder drops to a predetermined level, said valve being seatable by the action of the float when the liquid in the first named cylinder rises to a predetermined level` 3. In combination, a liquid accumulating cylinder, a source of fiuid pressure for supplying pressure on top of the liquid in the cylinder, a discharge cylindner or pipe within the first named cylinder having communication with a service line, a diaphragm actuated valve between the source of fluid pressure and the first named cylinder having a normal tendency to unseat, an exhaust pipe havin .an opening normally closed by said valve, a c amber on one side of the diaphragm having ported communication with the other side of the diaphragm, said chamber having f an exhaust port and va fioat actuated valve normally closing the exhaust port but unseatable by the fioat when the liquid in the first cylinder drops to a predetermined level and a spring normally urging the diaphragm in a direction to uncover the port communicating the source of fluid pressure with the cylinder and to close the exhaust port.

4. In combination, a liquid accumulating cylinder, a, source of constant fluid pressure supplyconnected to the cylinder, a fluid pressure exhaust connected to the cylinder, a double acting valve for opening communication with the source of supply in the cylinder and closing communication-between the cylinder and exhaust and vice versa, a uid pressure actuated diaphragm connected to the valve having a spring chamber on one side, in the chamber normally' urgingv a sprin the diap ragm in one direction to close off the exhaust by establishing communication berection to seat the valve so that when the valve is unseated, the spring may exert a preponderating pressure on the diaphragm, and

servicepipe communicating with the cylin- 5. In combination, a liquid accumulating cylinder, a fluid pressure pipe, an air exhaust pipe leading from the cylinder, a liquid discharge pipe, boththe fiuid pressure pipe and the air exhaust pipe having ported communication with the cylinder, a diaphragm chamber,a valve connected to the diaphragm for alternately opening and closing the iorts in the fluid pressure pipe and in the ex aust pipe, a pressure relief chamber for the diaphragm independent of the diaphragm chamber communicating with the diaphragm chamber through a small port, a valve normally closing an exhaust port in the. relief chamber havingv a downwardly projecting stem eX- tending into the cylinder, a pivoted yoke in the chamber for actuating the valve normally held in a horizontal position by a spring to maintain the valve for the relief chamber in closed position and a fioat in the cylinder adapted to actuate the yoke to unseat the valve.

6. In a pneumatic pump, a pressure controlling means comprising a valve casing having a diaphragm chamber, a diaphragm forming one wall of the chamber, a pressure relief chamber on the other side of the diaphragm communicating with the first chamber, a' pressure` controlling valve connected to the diaphragm, the connection being provided with a port communieating the two chambers, a valve normally 

